The name later spread to Russia, and then to France after KingHenry I married the Russian princess Anna Yaroslavna (1024-1075) in the 11th century. The name was popular with the Russian and Europeanroyal families, and it was subsequently adopted in many European countries. Among English speakers, the name came into general use in the 18th century, together with the forms Ann and Anne. The name was later known from the titularheroine of the novel Anna Karenina (1873-1877) by the Russian writer Tolstoy.

Anna is a very popular baby girl name. At the peak of its usage in 1901, 1.936% of baby girls were named Anna. It had a ranking of #3 then. The baby name has experienced a loss in popularity since then, and it is used on a modest scale in recent times. In 2012, its usage was only 0.289% and its ranking #35, but it was nevertheless the 2nd most popular after Hannah, out of all girl names in its family. In 2012, it was more frequently used than Anna by 30% . The name Anna has been mainly given to baby girls, though it has also been used as a boy name in the last century. There were 173 times as many baby girls than boys who were named Anna in 1930.